Have Not Mastered the Art of Packing

All week I had my suitcase open on my bedroom floor as I kept throwing clothes in and then taking them out. The dream going into this was that all I was going to take was a carry-on and one suitcase. The suitcase would be something that I could toss into storage until I found a flat while my backpack would contain everything I needed to survive for the first couple of weeks including decent interview clothes. Sadly, the dream died at 8am this morning.

Shoved as much as possible into the carry-on pack!

Once I gave up on the dream, I was able to fit everything into my carry-on and two suitcases. The backpack I’m using as my carry-on contains my laptop, pink snuggie, a book (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), hair straightener, and enough clothes to last me for 1-2 weeks including a decent interview outfit. Suitcase #1 contains another backpack with items that would be great to have at the hostel if hunting for a flat takes longer than a week, my knee brace, and running shoes. Suitcase #2 contains my work clothes, work shoes, and all that other fun stuff. My plan is to pull the backpack out of suitcase #1 and then dump both suitcases into storage until I can find a place to stay.

Even though I gave myself over a week to pack, I still ended up doing the bulk of the work this morning. I guess by nature I’m just a last-minute packer and I don’t know if that’s the best thing if you’re leaving for 52 weeks. I spent about 3 hours this morning throwing everything in a suitcase in a its now or never fashion. All I know is that I’m the last person to offer any advice on packing as I’m now realizing that I’ve left some minor things behind but much-needed items behind.